Odometer



July 25, J ZUBATY ODOMETER Filed June 18, 1928 Patented July 25, 1933 UNETED STATES FATENT OFFICE JOSEPH ZUBA'lY, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO I; 3 SPARK PLUG COMPANY, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN, fa. COMPANY OI IHICFIIGAN ODOMETEB Application filed June 18, 19?:

My invention relates to an improved odom eter mechanism such as is used in spccdonu eters for motor vehicles. Such odometers usually consist of a plurality of figure wheels arranged side by side on a supporting shaft.

An object of the invention is to improve the alignment of the figures of the figure wheels.

Other objects and advantages will be ap parent upon referring to the specification and accompanying drawing, in which-- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the odometer figure wheels, showing my im n'oved means for holding the wheels in correct alignment;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view talc-en on the line 22 of Fig. 3 of one of the figure wheels. showing part of the mechanism en'iployed for holding the wheels in alignment;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the figure wheels, showing how t iey appear who held in proper alignment by my improved mech anism; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but show- 7 ing how the figure wheels sometimes appear without my improved mechanism.

The reference numeral 10 indicatesa speedometer frame in which is supported a shaft 1 Mounted upon this shaft are figure wheels 141-, 16 and 18, which are used to register the trip mileage in a well. known manner. The figure wheel 14 is driven in any suitable manner from the speedometer driving mechanism, and is provided at its left hand side a with transfer teeth like teeth 20 and 21 on alternately spaced.

wheel 16 as shown in Fig. 2. Rotatably supported on a second shaft 22 are t 'ansfer pinions 24 which serve to transmit the motion from one figure wheel to the next.

The figure wheels 16 and 1.8; have on their right hand side gear teeth 26 which register with teeth 28 on the transfer pinions 2st. The opposite side of the latter have formed on them narrow teeth 30 and hr ad teeth 32.

A ledge 34 is formed on the left hand side of the figure wheels 14: and 16. Normally the broad teeth 32 of the fer pinions 2% bear against this ledge for the purpose of preventing rotation of the transfer pinions, which would cause the next Serial No. 236,362.

figure wheel to he "otated, thus allowing the figures to get out i line.

Each time the 'urc wheel 14; makes a complete revolution one of the narrow teeth 36 is engaged by one of the transfer teeth 20 and 21. which carries the pinion to be partially rotated. The ledge 34 is interrupted between the transfer teeth 20 and 21 so that a broad tooth 32 our l turned down in between the transfer teeth 20, 21. Since the transfer pinion is always in mesh with gear 26 of wheel 16., this in v ment of the transfer pinion causes the figure wheel 16 to be rotated suilieien'ly to bring the next figure Tito view. in a lil manner each time the figure wheel 16 is t .rned one complete revolution the transfer pinion between it and the figure wheel 16 causes the latter to be turned tenth of a revolution.

It will thus be seen th at normally the transfer piuions and the figure wheels are prevented from turning by the teeth 32 of the pinions engaging the ledge 34; on the figure there necessarily must be wheels, but since one point on each figure wheel where the led go is interrupted to permit the teeth 32 to mesh with the transfer teeth 20. 21 the transfer piniou is only held a one side at this point. Due to the vibration of the vehicle, there is a tendency for the figure wheels to change their position, and since they are only held from turning in on dire tion at this point, they are apt to move shgh in the opposite direction. This tendency to move takes place when the figure wheels are in a position so that the figures Zero appear through the opening in the speedometer face plate.

Naturally when the speedometer is placed on the vehicle when the latter is assembled at the factory, all of the figure wheels are at zero position. If some means is not provided to prevent this movement, the figure wheels tend to assume a position such as is shown in Fig. 4, which is very objectionable since it detracts from the appearance of the speedometer. I have overcome this difiiculty by forming a weighted portion 36', on each figure wheel, which throws the wheel out of balance slightly. This weight is so located that it will tend to rotate its wheel counterclockwise for the zero reading position of the wheel as shown by the drawing. The weight then tends to rotate its wheel and, through the engagement of the teeth of the wheel with the transfer pinion, to hold one of the teeth of the latter on the ledge 34. In other words, when the figure wheels are in zero or transfer position, they are free to move a slight amount in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, and the i'lnbalancing action of the weighted portion 86 tends to rotate the figure wheels in a counterclockwise direction to counteract this.

It Will be readily seen that this device will prevent the figure wheels from turning due to vibration when they are in the Zero or transfer position, thus keeping the figures in correct alignment. It is only necessary to prevent this movement at one point, which is where the ledge 34 is interrupted between the transfer teeth 20 and 21, since the engagement of the teeth 32 with the ledge 34 prevents rotation at all other times.

It is thoughtfifrom the foregoing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, that the construction and operation of the device will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and that various changes in size, shape and proportion and details of construction may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

Odometer mechanism comprising in combination a plurality of axially aligned figure wheels, transfer means between two of said wheels to drive a second from a first, weight means to unbalance said second wheel of said pair, said weight means operable at zero position of said figure wheels through the instrumentality of said transfer means to aid in maintaining alignment of the zeros on said figure wheels.

JOSEPH ZUBATY. 

